How Amazon Ads Impacted Holiday Shopping

Many Amazon shoppers don’t even notice advertisements when shopping the marketplace, according to a study by Teikametrics. The company believes it’s due to the fact that Amazon is a store first, compared to other sites where ads are displayed. The study also found Amazon’s free shipping and fast delivery are influencing shopping behavior.

Teikametrics is a “retail optimization platform” and said its merchants’ customers account for over 2% of all sales on Amazon.

It commissioned an online holiday exit survey of 500 Amazon shoppers in the days following the Turkey 5 (November 30th – December 3) as part of its “Teikametrics 2018: Amazon Advertising Holiday & Shopping Index” report. Respondents were weighted by age, region, and gender for an accurate representation of the US population.

Over 70% of shoppers were Amazon Prime members and respondents self-identified into a subset of shoppers who shop on Amazon: weekly (25%), monthly (32%) or a few times a year (43%).

The study found 39% of shoppers don’t notice ads on Amazon; 33% reported seeing the same amount; and 20% are seeing more. Only 9% of Amazon shoppers believe they are seeing fewer advertisements this holiday season.

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Teikametrics also found that it’s getting easier, not harder, to find holiday gifts on Amazon:

“Amazon is responsible for around 50% of all online sales in America today. As a result, shoppers can buy almost everything they can imagine. However, has it gotten easier to shop on Amazon this holiday season versus last holiday season? Yes, says over 31% of Amazon shoppers Teikametrics polled. That’s a pretty good uptick in only a year’s time.”

Perhaps not surprising, Amazon Prime members were even more likely to say it has gotten easier to find gifts on Amazon this holiday season (40%) versus last year, according to the report.

Some additional findings:

At the delivery deadline it’s either Amazon or a physical store for last-minute gifts: As we hit the deadline for online orders, Amazon shoppers said they would still consider running to a physical retail store (56%) as the top option for grabbing a last minute holiday gift. However, they’re not willing to trust or bet on ordering from an online retailer not named Amazon (<5%). Meanwhile, 40% said that they’re most likely stay on Amazon for getting their last minute holiday gifts.

Free shipping with no minimum is paying off for Amazon: Amazon is offering free shipping without a minimum purchase amount for the first time this holiday season and it appears to be a draw that a majority of Amazon shoppers can’t resist. Amazon shoppers reported that free shipping on a product (24%) enticed them the most to buy a product on Amazon this holiday shopping season. That answer ranked just above a product being on sale (23.7%), a product being delivered within 2 days (21%), and a product having 4 out of 5-star reviews (16%).

Is Amazon an island of misfit toys? Amazon has taken big steps to become a leader in the post-Toys”R”Us, toy-buying landscape. Specifically, the company shipped its inaugural printed holiday toy catalog in November to millions of customers to raise awareness and remind buyers familiar with catalog shopping of their product offering. However, 86% of the Amazon shoppers Teikametrics polled said they’d be buying the same amount or fewer toys on Amazon this holiday season compared to last holiday season. Meaning, only 14% of Amazon shoppers actually said they’d be buying more toys on Amazon this holiday season.

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com.

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